As Americans we are proud of our country and always sensitive when tragedy strikes one of our communities. We band together, believe in prayer, and are often generous with financial contributions to help rebuild. And, often when tragedies do strike we instantly ask - "how did this happen?" It's a natural reaction when we obviously care for one another, but it also leads us to seek the truth and factual information about the situation. Unfortunately, politics often complicates these tragedies because all too often opinions are ready to be given based on 'solutions' to an agenda. However, those reactions often take meaning from the truth and reality of what occurred. Quite frankly, I believe this has been occurring too frequently and the tactics that are employed to achieve an agenda are sickening.
Liberals in the House of Representatives used similar tactics when they tried to use recent events in this country to limit law abiding American's second amendment rights - they knew their sit in, use of photography on the House Floor and their actions were all against the rules of the House, but they didn't care. I watched as they ushered themselves into the U.S. House chamber with their own cameras to voice their protest and read statements blaming firearms, not terrorists or those who illegally obtain firearms for the tragedies. Unfortunately, just like their counterparts in the Administration they have also ignored straight forward answers and facts when it comes to gun violence.
For instance, they often demonize assault weapons as the root cause of the violence, however they never mention that assault weapons are fully-automatic weapons that have been illegal to import and manufacture to the general population since 1986. They also fail to realize that the semi-automatic weapons they reference are actually the same type of firearm that hunters and sportsmen, like myself and thousands of others in Missouri and across the country own, and ironically in some cases this is the same type of semi-automatic weapon used to control wildlife populations in our national and state parks both of which liberals often support. They also never provide the honest and straightforward answer that nearly 5 times as many people are killed each year by blunt objects or beaten to death at the hands of an assailant than are killed with a rifle of any kind.
Most dishonest however, is when the Liberals blame guns for the driving force behind homicides in the country. In reality, more than 60% of homicides are suicides and these often involve mental illness, which is a serious issue that many of us are trying to work together on in a bipartisan way. In fact, just this week, I offered my support behind legislation to mitigate the shortage of psychiatric beds and child psychiatrists in this country to better address the symptoms of mental health disorders before they turn into catastrophic actions.
These are the facts and straight forward answers we aren't getting from the liberal left or the media when it comes to the truth about our second amendment rights. And the reason is simple, because they want to use recent events around this country to promote their agenda of impeding on the constitutionally protected rights guaranteed to all law abiding citizens. Offering compassion or generosity to one another in a time of need or sorrow is something we can be proud of as Americans. And, I believe we do have a great deal to be proud of, especially who we are and our unique form of government, but it shouldn't come at the cost of something so cheap as television ratings and political posturing.
